Ballot set for YCC E-Board race

March Madness may be over, but Yale’s own Sweet Sixteen is just about to begin.

Yale College Council Election Commission officials on Wednesday released the names of 16 students who filed petitions for candidacy in the upcoming YCC Executive Board elections by yesterday’s deadline. While each race will be competitive, the list of candidates is considerably shorter than some preliminary estimations by those involved in student government.

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Voting will begin Monday at 9 a.m. and end Wednesday evening at 9 p.m.

The race for YCC president promises a battle of sophomores. Three current members of the YCC — Katrina Landeta ’10, Harrison Marks ’10 and Rich Tao ’10 — will vie to succeed current President Rebecca Taber ’08. Further down the ballot, incumbent Vice President Emily Schofield ’09 looks to defend her post against a sole challenger, Jarrett Burks ’10, who served as a representative from Berkeley to the Freshman Class Council last year.

Landeta is a veteran of undergraduate student government, having served as activities chair on the FCC last year and as one of two Branford College representatives to the YCC this year. She said she is looking forward to what she predicted would be an “interesting” campaign.

“We all know each other very well,” Landeta said, referring to her competitors, both of whom she counts among her close friends. “So it’ll be interesting to see how the next few days unfold. But regardless, we all very much respect each other.”

Based on his experience as YCC treasurer this year and FCC chair in the fall of 2006, Marks said he intends to run a simple campaign.

“My campaign is going to be based around that information and getting that information out there,” Marks said of his YCC record, which includes the creation of the Student Development Directive. “Once it’s out there, I’m so comfortable leaving it in the hands of the student body.”

Tao served as FCC chair last spring and currently represents Silliman College on the YCC. After winning an election in September to serve as one of Silliman’s voices on the council, Tao said he went door to door around the college to gain an understanding of issues on his constituents’ minds. In preparation for next Monday’s balloting, Tao is again knocking doors — this time, all across campus.

“As trite as it sounds, I’m looking forward to talking with people,” Tao said of the upcoming race. “When I go door to door, I’m not going to be expecting 30-second conversations — I want to sit down and listen to people.”

The race for treasurer has settled into a two-man contest between Timothy Dwight College representative Will Alexander ’10 and Saybrook College representative Jonathan Wu ’11. Only two candidates — FCC Vice Chair Abigail Cheung ’11 and Jonathan Edwards College representative Jasper Wang ’10 — will face off in the race to replace outgoing Secretary David Narotsky ’09.

Rounding out the ballot are Matthew Marr ’10, Bryan Twarek ’10 and Anne Xu ’09, who have thrown their hats into the ring for Undergraduate Organizations Funding Committee chair. All three currently serve on the UOFC’s board.

The candidates will have the opportunity to solicit student groups’ backing at a formal endorsement meeting Saturday.